[{"volume":53,"date_updated":"2026-04-28T13:35:53Z","scopus_import":"1","type":"journal_article","department":[{"_id":"CaMu"}],"OA_place":"publisher","doi":"10.1029/2025gl119921","abstract":[{"lang":"eng","text":"Tropical shallow clouds are a major source of uncertainty in Earth's climate sensitivity, especially through their spatial arrangement, which global climate models do not represent. Efforts to understand their organization have partly relied on classifying observed scenes, identifying four patterns as archetypal regimes. Here we analyze geostationary satellite imagery of the western tropical Atlantic using the L‐function, a tool based on point pattern theory that quantifies cloud organization across spatial scales. Classical examples of the four patterns show distinct L‐function fingerprints, revealing their characteristic clustering and regularity scales and aiding physical interpretation. Yet, when evaluating many scenes at fixed spatial scales, the L‐function distribution lacks the distinct modes expected from discrete regimes. This is corroborated by analyses of other organization indices employing diverse approaches, from inter‐cloud nearest‐neighbor distances to fractal analysis. Implications for the parameterization of mesoscale cloud organization in climate models are discussed."}],"publication_identifier":{"issn":["0094-8276"],"eissn":["1944-8007"]},"OA_type":"gold","project":[{"_id":"fc2ed2f7-9c52-11eb-aca3-c01059dda49c","call_identifier":"H2020","name":"IST-BRIDGE: International postdoctoral program","grant_number":"101034413"}],"ec_funded":1,"publisher":"Wiley","file_date_updated":"2026-04-21T06:07:22Z","article_number":"e2025GL119921","date_created":"2026-04-21T06:04:41Z","status":"public","has_accepted_license":"1","publication_status":"published","acknowledgement":"GB was supported by an ICTP Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Agreement. GM was supported by the CNRS. AC was supported by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme Marie Sklodowska-Curie Grant agreement No 101034413. LJF acknowledges funding from the NERC Doctoral Training Partnership in Environmental Research Grant NE/S007474/1. We thank three anonymous reviewers and Jiawei Bao for their insightful comments, which greatly improved this manuscript.","_id":"21755","ddc":["550"],"citation":{"ieee":"G. Biagioli, G. Mandorli, L. J. Freischem, A. Casallas Garcia, and A. M. Tompkins, “Spatial patterns of shallow clouds: Challenging the concept of defined regimes,” <i>Geophysical Research Letters</i>, vol. 53, no. 8. Wiley, 2026.","mla":"Biagioli, Giovanni, et al. “Spatial Patterns of Shallow Clouds: Challenging the Concept of Defined Regimes.” <i>Geophysical Research Letters</i>, vol. 53, no. 8, e2025GL119921, Wiley, 2026, doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1029/2025gl119921\">10.1029/2025gl119921</a>.","ista":"Biagioli G, Mandorli G, Freischem LJ, Casallas Garcia A, Tompkins AM. 2026. Spatial patterns of shallow clouds: Challenging the concept of defined regimes. Geophysical Research Letters. 53(8), e2025GL119921.","short":"G. Biagioli, G. Mandorli, L.J. Freischem, A. Casallas Garcia, A.M. Tompkins, Geophysical Research Letters 53 (2026).","ama":"Biagioli G, Mandorli G, Freischem LJ, Casallas Garcia A, Tompkins AM. Spatial patterns of shallow clouds: Challenging the concept of defined regimes. <i>Geophysical Research Letters</i>. 2026;53(8). doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1029/2025gl119921\">10.1029/2025gl119921</a>","chicago":"Biagioli, Giovanni, Giulio Mandorli, Lilli Johanna Freischem, Alejandro Casallas Garcia, and Adrian Mark Tompkins. “Spatial Patterns of Shallow Clouds: Challenging the Concept of Defined Regimes.” <i>Geophysical Research Letters</i>. Wiley, 2026. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1029/2025gl119921\">https://doi.org/10.1029/2025gl119921</a>.","apa":"Biagioli, G., Mandorli, G., Freischem, L. J., Casallas Garcia, A., &#38; Tompkins, A. M. (2026). Spatial patterns of shallow clouds: Challenging the concept of defined regimes. <i>Geophysical Research Letters</i>. Wiley. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1029/2025gl119921\">https://doi.org/10.1029/2025gl119921</a>"},"intvolume":"        53","language":[{"iso":"eng"}],"issue":"8","user_id":"2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","article_processing_charge":"Yes","quality_controlled":"1","PlanS_conform":"1","title":"Spatial patterns of shallow clouds: Challenging the concept of defined regimes","tmp":{"name":"Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)","short":"CC BY (4.0)","legal_code_url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode","image":"/images/cc_by.png"},"month":"04","article_type":"original","date_published":"2026-04-28T00:00:00Z","oa":1,"year":"2026","DOAJ_listed":"1","day":"28","author":[{"full_name":"Biagioli, Giovanni","first_name":"Giovanni","last_name":"Biagioli"},{"first_name":"Giulio","last_name":"Mandorli","full_name":"Mandorli, Giulio"},{"first_name":"Lilli Johanna","last_name":"Freischem","full_name":"Freischem, Lilli Johanna"},{"id":"92081129-2d75-11ef-a48d-b04dd7a2385a","full_name":"Casallas Garcia, Alejandro","orcid":"0000-0002-1988-5035","first_name":"Alejandro","last_name":"Casallas Garcia"},{"full_name":"Tompkins, Adrian Mark","first_name":"Adrian Mark","last_name":"Tompkins"}],"oa_version":"Published Version","publication":"Geophysical Research Letters","license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","file":[{"creator":"acasalla","file_name":"Gio_Casallas_2026.pdf","content_type":"application/pdf","date_created":"2026-04-21T06:07:22Z","access_level":"open_access","checksum":"2cd4ae120b14b244f5b2f50eaae0efc1","file_id":"21756","file_size":1544417,"date_updated":"2026-04-21T06:07:22Z","success":1,"relation":"main_file"}]}]